Cancer Epidemiology
Program Description
The major programmatic scientific focus of the Cancer Epidemiology Program is the study of genetic and environment determinants of cancer etiology, and the application of this knowledge to the development and evaluation of risk-reducing interventions. The major scientific goals of the Program include: the elucidation of gene-environment interactions in cancer etiology and progression, the development and evaluation of risk-reducing strategies for susceptible populations, and the development and application of novel methods for analyzing genetic and phenotypic data.
Program members concentrate on: cancers considered to be high priority, due to their incidence and/or high mortality, such as breast, endometrial, ovarian and prostate cancer; cancers of low incidence that are rising at rapid rates, such as melanoma; and cancers whose descriptive epidemiology suggests an external, and thereby preventable, cause, such as lung and head and neck cancer.
Examples of research include an NCI program project grant titled "Molecular Susceptibility to Hormone-Induced Cancer;" studies of melanoma susceptibility including an NCI R01 titled "Molecular Epidemiology of Melanoma;" an NCI SPORE in skin cancer; an NCI program project titled "Biological Markers of Breast Cancer and Tamoxifen Response;" an NCI project designed to assess the incidence, risk factors, and impact on quality of life of lymphedema among breast cancer patients; an NCI-funded Center for Population Health and Health Disparities that addresses gaps in knowledge about factors that predict prostate cancer outcomes; and two NCI R01s designed to evaluate prediction and modification of hereditary cancer risk. Investigators participating in these and other cancer epidemiology programs are listed below.
Program Members
- Timothy Rebbeck, PhD (program leader)
- Richard Aplenc, MD, MSCE
- Katrina Armstrong, MD, MSCE
- Raymond C. Boston, PhD
- Greta Bunin, PhD
- Susan Colilla, PhD
- Angela DeMichele, MD, MSCE
- John T. Farrar, MD, PhD
- Phyllis A. Gimotty, PhD
- Daniel F. Heitjan, PhD
- John H. Holmes, PhD
- Peter Kanetsky, PhD
- J. Richard Landis, PhD
- James D. Lewis, MD, MSCE
- A. Russell Localio, JD, MPH, PhD
- David Margolis, MD, PhD
- Sandra A. Norman, PhD
- Kathleen Propert, ScD
- Mary E. Putt, PhD, ScD
- Mary Sammel, ScD
- Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH
- Brian L. Strom, MD, MPH
- Thomas Ten Have, PhD, MPH
- Andrea Troxel, ScD
- E. Paul Wileyto, PhD
